Yokai Institution
by Rainhealsme
Summary: Vengeful spirits have touched our world, letting it's horrific creatures, the Goryō, upon us. Goryō have one purpose: to kill humans. Little stands between our world and destruction. Our protectors, the Meisters, can keep us safe and eliminate the demonic spirits. Yokai Institution is where they train to fight, with no choice in the matter. [Accepting OCs, details inside. AU]


**Well, I succumbed to my whims and decided to start writing this Soul Eater inspired story. Now I'm writing how many fanfics? ...TOO MANY? Nah...Ill be updating my other stories as well, so keep your eye out for that. :)**

**Also, do you guys like contest? Well, I sure do and I plan to also have a fanart contest for those who follow and review this story regularly. Information on that and OC submissions are at the end of this chapter.**

**I hope you all enjoy! And by the way...the disclaimer is now on my profile.**

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_**Yōkai Institution**_

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_We are about to enter a world unlike any other._

_Keep your chin up and your head high, believe in yourself and whatever you do;_

_Don't let them take your soul__..._

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_**Lesson One: **__Knowing Where You Belong._

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The night was at armistice after a morning and afternoon of gloomy weather that brought light showers and warm wind.

Once clear, the air became humid and thick. Evidences of the day activity were seen by the moonlight illuminating over a cluster of green woodlands below. The atmosphere in between the towering trees was rich with the smell of moss and wet soil, the croaks and chirps of frogs and crickets filled the night with sound, and puddles covered the ground floor. Rain droplets clung to waxy surface of many leaves only to slide down the very tip of the leaves and free fall into the small muddy water on the ground, causing the puddle to form small ripples.

It was a calm, peaceful night. However, that was about to change.

The trees of the forest swayed back and forth with the sudden breeze, showering the ground with more water droplets. As soon as it began, the wind suddenly stopped, taking the natural sound of the forest with it. Everything was cased in silence until the last hoot of an owl brought upon stillness to the woodland area.

Blackened clouds slowly crept their way over the moon, blocking out most of its pale blue glow over the land and making the environment darker and cooler. Everything looked and felt dead, nothing living or moving made to feel as if nothing existed in this area. That is until, like the breeze, a sound broke the silence and brought with it another change.

_**Snap!**_

The sound of a branch being broken in two echoed through the forest. Followed by another one and another until moving bushes added to the snapping sticks. Along with the sound of snapping twigs came the bright light of a phone screen hovering over the wet ground. It flickered as it moved swiftly through the darken forest. The visible light gave away the person carrying a phone in her hand as she ran along the soggy path. The young woman jumped over several fallen moss covered logs on the grassy floor and ducked under vines and tree branches, straying away from the path she was on to cut through another one.

Up ahead she could spot a small shrine where the tree lines end and open ground of grass lies. Perhaps someone inside could help her get back to town where it safe and full of light. She could easily see lights from afar between the trees. Knowing that she was not far from reaching shrine, she picked up speed.

Finally reaching the forest edge, she could see now the shrine in the middle of the clearing. The woman's heels clicked as she slowly walked down the cobblestone path in front of her. The smiling luminous moon was high in the sky and the air was thick from the humidity. All was silent save for the echoing click from her shoes and a bell chiming in the distance. Nothing else could be heard, not even the creatures of the forest. The woman then came to a stop as she felt a presence behind her. She turned around.

"I-is anyone here?" she asked, receiving no answer in return. She began to shake as she heard the same noise to her left. She quickly spun around, but found nothing was there. Deciding it was for the best, she began to walk again, but a faster pace. The noise was still getting closer by the second. Now sprinting, her shoes made a loud tapping noise. Hearing the noise close behind her, she spun around once more.

"Who's there? Whoever you are please...s-stop following me!" she shouted, but then was silence as a figure appeared from the shadows. Finally, she got a better view of what was following her;

It stood at least 8 feet tall, had three eyes, and huge razor sharp claws. The creature was taking slow steps closer towards the frighten woman. It looked at her, head tilted and saliva dripping from its mouth which was stretched into a permanent, almost painful grin. The creature slowly began to raise its claws over its head and in a split second, it slashed its prey.

The woman fell to the ground as blood pooled around her body. The creature crouched over her and watched as a small, spherical blue light traveled upwards from her chest. Its sword like fingers reached out and plucked the soul from the air and swallowed it whole. However, while the soul gave it power, the creature was still hungry, _very _hungry.

Suddenly, a rustle rang out from the forest. The creature turned its head and saw little rabbit running away from it in horror.

"More..." The creature hissed as it took off after the rabbit, preparing to collect another soul for the night. That is, until something or rather someone had called out to it;

"Hey, Tom the terror! You're killing sprees days are officially about to end!" A voice shouted out at the beast. A figure yelled stepping out the shadows to give view. It was a boy with two toned brown hair, and peachy skin contrasting with the moon.

"So prepare to lose." A taller figure had said from the shadows. He too was male with bright orange spiky hair and black eyes as dark as coal. He floated next to the brunette, arms crossed over his chest.

The creature had it full attention on the two, giving the frightened rabbit a good chance to escape behind it and stepped towards the two males. It seemed like a staring contest, but the quiet it is had seem to upset the creature and it raised it claw and began to charge at them. A smirk played on both of their faces and the two of them jump in the air.

"That man, Rythian. His soul..." The brunette said while his partner smirked.

"Yeah Jaden. There's no doubt about it. This guy has become a Goryō. It's pure evil. He's not human anymore and there's no chance of him turning back now. Let's end this."

"Right. Rythian, transform!" Rythian nodded and began to glow with a red colored aura, transforming into a large black and silver double sided scythe. Jaden grabbed it spinning it around in his hands and landing on top of a high tree branch.

The creature growled and sprinted up the steps. Leaping into the air, it angled itself above the Meister and his weapon.

Jaden smirked, bracing himself. "Here we go!"

The creature shot up, claws extended. Jaden deflected each shot with the handle of the scythe. It rebounded off the side of a building and made another attempt to strike down the meister. Jaden parried the attack and swung the weapon at the creature. Swipe, dodge, hit; each move was followed by another. The fight carried on in midair until Jaden and the creature both landed across from each other in another tree. Jaden jumped up as the creature lunged for him and pushed off on his head. The creature lost its balance and fell from the branch it was on. Jaden followed it, the scythe drawn back and ready to swing.

"It's ours now!" Jaden shouted as he swung the scythe directly into the creature's abdomen. "The 86th soul!" The scythe went through the creature as it split in half and folded in on itself. It erupted in a dark explosion leaving only a soul behind. The soul was similar to that of the woman's except it was twisted and black with a red core. It drifted down and hovered a few feet above the ground, and Rythian shifted back into his humanoid spirit form.

Rythian floated over to the soul and plucked it out of the air. Opening his mouth wide, he ate the soul, chewing and finally swallowing it.

"We're almost there, aren't we?" Rythian asked. "Took us long enough but that was number 86. Just a bit more to go and were finished."

Jaden nodded. "Anyway, we meet up with the others and report back to Shinigami-sama and let him know how things turned out tonight."

The two of them went south walking along the path that headed into the city where Janelle, Jaden's twin sister and her massive golem spirit, Sentinel were waiting patiently. Jaden didn't say a word, as the large grin on his face gave the impression that the Goryō had been exterminated, which meant his mission had been completed. With that in mind, Janelle ran up to the nearest shop window. She blew on the glass, creating a sheet of condensation.

"Just write in the death room's number." She murmured to herself as she began tracing numbers into the condensation. "42 42 564, whenever you want to knock on Death's door." She finished writing the numbers and stepped back as the window began to glow. Soon it showed the death room.

"Hello, Lord Death. Are you there?" she called into the window. Jaden walked up and stood beside her. "Meisters Jaden and Janelle reporting."

"Yes, yes." A voice called back to them. The window showed Shinigami-sama as he waved to them with his large white hands. "Hello you two. How are you doing? How did it go?" You could see no expression on his masked face but you could hear the enthusiasm in his voice.

"So we each have 86 souls," Janelle responded. "It won't be long and we'll be done."

"Well done you two," Shinigami-sama congratulated. "You're proving to be excellent meisters. Your mother would have been proud."

"Right..." The twins answered quietly the same time. They didn't like it when people mentioned their mother. It had been well over a year since Amana's passing, but the twins were just starting to accept it.

"Also, please do be sure not to make any mistakes." Shinigami-sama continued. "If you slip up then the consequences to be fatal...I've seen countless Meisters, both old and young lose their lives and souls to powerful Goryō."

"We understand sir." Janelle said.

"Yeah," Jaden agreed. "We'll make a clean job of it, no worries."

"Alright. I'll see you two later then." The image disappeared as Shinigami signed off.

Once then, the siblings turned away from the window and continued walking down the empty street with Rythian and Sentinel following them closely. A few minutes later, Janelle suddenly stopped staring up at the strange smiling moon in the sky. Noticing, Jaden stopped and glanced over his shoulder at her, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket.

"It's strange...Mom always hated the fact that we could communicate with spirits. She wanted to keep us way from this and to lead normal lives, but yet, here we are." she said. "If she were still living, I wonder...would we be where we're at today?"

Jaden shrugged, looking up at the moon for himself. "I'd like to think so. And besides; this beats any old day at the regular college don't you think?" He turned towards her smiling brightly like he always did when they were children together with their mother.

Janelle returned her brother's smile. With Jaden's history of playing sword-based fighting games, it was no wonder he found slaying Goryō to be entertaining. But then again, he had a point. This was indeed no substitution for a Soul Caliber game, that's for sure.

Janelle began walking once more. As she caught to her own spirit, Jaden and Rythian, a roar was heard in the near distant followed by a child's scream. Of course it was another Goryō, so the twins instantly sprung into action;

"Rythian/Sentinel!" They shouted at the same time.

"Right!" The Djinn and golem shouted, their ghostly bodies glowing of red and blue, transforming into their weapon forms.

Jaden grabbed his scythe by the handle while Janelle reached and grabbed her double sided war axe. From there, the two siblings ran towards the creature that was preparing to attack. All the while, the two of them thought of their past. Though it not the best of childhoods, it was what made them who they are today.

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"_You can't hide them forever, Amana...they'll have to learn to control their powers eventually..."_

Onigawara's words echoed throughout the room quiet room. And to make matters worse, Amana knew he was right.

Jaden and his sister, Janelle, were merely ten at the time and this was the only thing heavier on his mind than the malevolent spirits, his was mother's arms wrapped around his small shoulders. He continuously worked through the layers of Bowser's castle; face down, the only thing in his peripheral vision being the maroon colored walls of his home and his mother's shaking body. As his small hands commanded Mario to jump from ledge to ledge, he could faintly hear his mother going hysterical.

"There's no way, Onigawara!" she said, perhaps thinking that she sounded like her usual calm self. Janelle did her best to calm her down by holding her arm in a tight but loving embrace.

The castle was like an endless maze. Jaden commanded the infamous plumber to search each and every room for the power star. He frowned as the maze-like area began to confuse him. Though his mother sounded all but relaxed, he was reassured when her grip went tighter around him and his sister.

"You guaranteed that my children would be fine! There must be some sort of mistake! There has to be!"

He frowned again. _Bowser thinks he's going to get to me, does he? Well, we'll see about that!_ Jaden had Mario to back track, deciding on a new tactic. Apparently, it was pointless to figure the castle puzzle until the entire area had been explored completely. That only led to Mario's death and more frustration. He pursed his lips in frustration and began the level for what seem like the hundredth time that evening.

The man referred to as Onigawara, was a tall bald-headed man with pale skin, strange pointy ears, red eyes, and thin eyebrows and lips, sat across from her. He rubbed his chin for a few minutes before slapping his hands to his knees. It made a hollow but loud sound, and the twins averted their attention to him. He was smiling lightly, but one could easily tell that this was a smile of exasperation. Upon noticing the children glancing at him, he stopped grinning and become much more serious, dropping all casualties and appearances.

"Amana," he began slowly, "I'm going off what my tests show, and what your children tell me..."

Amana grew furious, moving away from her children. Something both Jaden and Janelle knew about their mother was the fact that she had a habit of talking with her hands when she was heavily upset. The twins watched their exchange with their aqua and amber colored eyes as Amana was already sporadically waving her arms.

"Those tests are wrong! They're just children! I-I my babies cannot," her voice faded away, replaced by quiet sniffles and murmurs. Jaden felt his mother's arms loop limply around his neck, face buried in his shoulder. Wetness he could feel it pooling and spreading on the back on his shirt.

_Why is she crying so much? Was she crying for us or because of us? What had sis and I done wrong?_ He thought sadly.

Onigawara sighed heavily. He was tired, probably tired of trying to calm the erratically behaving mother of two. He looked at Jaden with such desperation in his eyes. "Can you tell your Mom, son, what you told me during our little talk, please?"

Jaden's eyes grew shifty and he bit his lip. Both Amana and Janelle froze, listening for what he had to say. Amana kept her face hidden, tears flowing. Could he really tell her? What would it do to her if he told her of all the things he and Janelle saw? All the suffering, blood, falling, fires, and the scary demons, Goryō **(1)**, and Shibito **(2)**? He could imagine her turn into a living vegetable if he repeated the messages he heard in the darkness of the night, bidding on how long it took him until he went completely insane and did as they told. She would be so pale and lonely, so scared. It was no secret that he and Janelle were her only salvation right now. Their father, he didn't love her, not the way that the people loved each other on TV. He left her after all. The actors did a better job than he did at loving; even Amana could see the absence. She was slowly accepting that, even.

To Amana, the twins were the only things she had left to show how good a wife she was how good a parent she was, how great a person she is. She was only getting so upset because of their crazy visions of the decease. The word crazily echoed in Jaden's pounding head, she would think herself as a failure. If not that, he wouldn't know.

As the thickness of the tension rose, and the silence grew audible, Jaden un-paused his game and began playing, staring blankly at the flashing screen.

"I told you that a spirit of a little girl in a red dress told us to stab Ms. Takashi with a pair of scissors until she couldn't scream anymore," He scratched the itchy bandage on his cheek, which covered a scrap he'd gotten earlier that week.

Hearing this made Amana squeaked slightly, shaking but trying not to as she held onto Janelle for support. The tears pinched at her eyes as the anxiety spun.

"But that was a game," he suddenly blurted. "We were playing a co-op game online and lost to the other team because Ms. Takashi told us to stop playing and return to our seat. I guess that we just let our anger get out of control..."

After a moment of silence, Onigawara then told the three of them that he would come by again within a month to check on the twins in a voice that almost sounded depressed. Amana gave her twins a big squeeze after he left. Jaden figured he must have looked sad when he was really feeling guilty and empty, because she told him it would all be okay, kissed his and his sisters forehead, and headed into the kitchen to make dinner for them.

Being only ten at the time, the twins believed their mother's every word.

_**10 years later...**_

Jaden was running down a long snake-like corridor with tall hard, red mud walls with intricately crafted designs etched in the clay. His feet echoed with each step, as the sweat slowly beading above his brow was loud and was amplified by his ears. He could hear the small droplets sliding down the rim of his nose, sliding over the tip only to fall to the dusty floor. He would trip over pebbles strewn about, stumbling over his own feet only to use his tips of his fingers pushing his whole body back upwards. Suddenly, he found himself at a fork in the corridor.

Along with a wall ahead of him, there was a right corner revealing a dark, endless to all that his mind knew a hallway, and a left turn, showing an equally darkened passageway. The only difference was a small speck of some sort...was that a light? Were his eyes deceiving him yet again...? A white light, small and as minuscule as a black ant in a sea of dark blue. It very well could have been there, and very well could not have been.

To remind himself that he had barely any time to make a decision, no time that he was pretending he had, at the very least, soft footsteps echoed in his mind. Jaden's breaths hitched shortly, heart racing as a top horse in the derby, and a new, nauseating sweat broke on his palms. His throat went dry, hollow, empty suddenly all went still.

He wasn't being chased anymore.

Slowly Jaden opened his eyes that he was not aware that he had closed, and the walls melted into nonentity. The walls melted into gray, solid cold cement. The shadows grew wider and taller, thicker, and he was on the ground, sprawled on the freezing ground. He jerked his head to the left, taking in his surroundings, nothing but another slate gray wall and a single window to his right that revealed dead and decaying world. This world lacked sun and moon. There was no day or night, yet there were trees on the verge of shriveling up into nothingness, and grass that was yellow and dry. The sky was red outside, crimson red, with a single creature resting on its feet on the ledge of the window a three legged raven **(3)**.

Silently it cawed, and Jaden found his self drawn to it, leaning forward toward the blackbird as to see it better, though he could not. Chains clanked, and intrinsically he turned to the wall behind him, rusted brown chains looped together that lead to his hands, locked at his wrists. Jaden realized then that he was not wearing any of his usual clothes, for a simple white ripped and dirtied tee shirt and tattered jeans could not be clothes. The fabric reeked with an old stench that suggested he had been here longer than he knew of.

The red eyes of the crow came to the forefront of his attention ten minutes later, after his pointless attempts from losing himself from the chains, and his brain twitched.

There was the sound of an opening door with a squeak of disuse and the cold room he had been in before had suddenly transformed. Opening his eyes, Jaden was greeted with the musty smell of mothballs and fabric toys that hadn't seen enough air or day light. Dust covered the hardwood floor in a light layer and toys were arranged around the room, all old and stuff and quite a few were patched from many years of love. Decorating the walls of the classroom was a four sided mural of a beach, completely with sand castles and birds and even a dock reaching out into painted blue water.

Jaden glanced around at the toys and animals. Scuff marks revealed themselves under the slight layer of dust and when he looked closer at the murals, he found they were old and worn, flecks of paint peeling off the walls. A pile of stuffed animals in the corner caught Jaden's eyes and he couldn't resist stepping over to them. Kneeling in front of the worn toys and dolls he glanced at each one. One particular toy, however, caught his eye.

It was a simple design, very little shape save for a head, body and limbs. A single black button remained for an eye, while the other side of the face held a blank spot with a loose string, having lost its eye from time and wear. The bear's fur might once have been a dark brown, but now it was a dull sandy color, making it almost a perfect match for the room. There was also the strange fact that the back had a design of red splotches which looked like someone had spilled grape juice over the back of the bear.

The sound of soft footsteps scampered across the floor behind him. Jaden blinked and stood up, turning slowly to look around the room, but same as the night before, he found nothing. He glanced back at the bear, reaching for its the loose button eyes. His hand stopped as he heard the sound again. This time Jaden set down the bear and slowly turned his head, moving as little as he could to not surprise whatever was behind him.

Standing behind him, dressed in an elementary school uniform, was a little boy who couldn't be more than seven years old. His hair was a light blond, the color muted in the light over head, cut unevenly around his face. His eyes were a matching muted blue, looking as if the dust were actually creating a layer over his irises, kept in by the large wrinkles and dark bags under his eyes. The child looked on the verge of falling asleep at any second, but at the same time the effect made his eyes look too big for his head and they seemed to stick out a little too far.

The boy wore no shoes and his feet were faded, being the only clue to the fact that he certainly couldn't be human. And the closing touch? The boy was holding the bear from one hand and suddenly Jaden wasn't.

Jaden swallowed, only able to really look at the boy. He couldn't think of anything to say and his mind was still wrapping around the idea of what he was seeing. No real feet? A sleepy and creepy look? A child that appeared out of nowhere following strange sounds?

He couldn't possibly be looking at a spirit now could he?

"Uh...hi?" Jaden winced at how weak his voice sounded. Brilliant. Yes, very brilliant indeed.

The little boy didn't say anything in response, but instead tilted his head, giving Jaden a quizzical look.

"Does this belong to you?"

The little boy nodded.

And from there Jaden wasn't sure what to say. What do you say to a spirit who just suddenly decided to appear in front of you? Was there even really anything you could say at all?

"Oh, well okay then. I...I'll let you play with him then..." Jaden inched back slowly.

The little boy didn't seem to react at first and instead just watched him inch away. But as he went Jaden noticed the boy's eyes were widening slowly. Then his mouth suddenly opened, far too large for any child and his face distorted to an almost grotesque look of horror, followed by a scream that sent a sharp pang running through his veins as pain sequentially registered. Jaden blinked, clearing old tears away before the new dared to exit, shock running through him. Electrical energy, he was sure it had to be, surged like speeding bullets within his tissue, and the eyes he knew were open he knew that he had them open filled with black, tiny ants crawling into his vision. He grasped his head, squeezing and shaking.

He wanted it to stop.

As usual, it did. Brushing off his pants, he rose from the ground, gripping his textbooks after a few sporadic blinks. The scene changed a few times, switching like a running movie projector with different films, and, eventually, the painted portrait of the school founder and familiar halls of the community college revealed themselves to him.

One of his classmates was there, looking at him with concern. "Hey, are you?" She barely managed to speak before Jaden interrupted her.

With a small grin, "I'm fine," exited his lips on accord with his steps, leading him to his next class. She saw nothing, his conscious repeated to him.

She saw nothing. Yet lowly he knew she saw everything.

During his study period, Jaden couldn't focus. He stared at the instruction paper of his Public Speaking assignment blankly, reading over the words many times. After a while, he clutched his head realizing that the topic was similar to one he'd received in Elementary as third grader. In the third grade, the teacher forced upon his class an arbitrary assignment. The class was to write a persuasive essay that explained why your role model was the best role model. Jaden was caught at a crossroads because, even though he was at the age wherein half of the boys were announcing the blue ranger their favorite person ever, and the other half declaring the red ranger the best. He had no idea whom he was to deem as his 'role model'.

He supposed that he didn't look up to anyone, or, at least, anyone he would admittedly admire. His mother was the first thought that floated into his mind. She was kind, understanding, and loving toward him. She listened and cared. If she didn't care, well, she did a very good job pretending that she did. The problem with writing a paper on how much he loved his mother was the high chance that he would have to read the speech in front of the class.

The paper before him grew increasingly intimidating, as the blue lines remained blank. He supposed that he would have to be predictable, using his father as his role model. He was sure that was what his sister wrote about, anyhow. There was no failing school, he learned quickly, as long as he did as she did. However annoying it was, he knew that it was true.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance at the front of the room. Looking up from his paper, Jaden watched as Mr. Imamura took the pink call slip from the student aid, read it, then look mildly at the class, wrinkling his nose to push his glasses back up.

"Jaden, you're needed in the office."

Said student was already reaching for his books. He kept his back very straight as she walked up the aisle to take the slip. But at the same time, he wondered, what in the world could the office what want with him?

Whatever the case, he was about to find out.

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Her eyes found themselves staring at the golden potato chip bag Camille held. She must have read 'Lays' thousands of times before her break was over with. There was nothing interesting about the bag, no; it was the dainty hand that casually grasped the container.

On their own, Janelle's aqua colored eyes found the tan hands that held the potato chip bag, and traced them to arms, which lead to a face. A pretty face, that chatted away to neighbors, unknowing toward the havoc that was ensuing within her friend's mind. It was a tornado, really, plummeting through all her deepest and darkest files, resurfacing those images she had buried long ago. It was becoming almost ridiculous, how long she was sitting in trained silence, being so ignored that she was sure that if she left the table, her absence would go unnoticed.

The notion was interesting to her, really. Her lunch, the BBQ flavored potato chips, so conveniently being eaten by someone other than herself, someone of whom she called her friend, was gone, and the purpose of the lunch hour dissipated. Janelle's raging mind hindered her from socializing, and though her stomach growled in demand for food, her loyalty toward the happiness of her friend stopped the female twin from saying no. The fog began to clear why was she still seated here, where she was far from happy, closer to the opposite?

With just that in mind, Janelle gathered her purse and bottle of Sprite, planning to finish it. Each rising centimeter she made, the lighter she began to feel. This Janelle could not connect to anything except the relieving of being stuffed with so many people at the so-called popular table. She was probably getting fresher air this way, and her personal space was no longer crowded either. That must have been it, she concluded, and drowning the rest of her soda, seeing if that could substitute the lack of actual fumes of pizza and hamburgers, even the faint smell of lettuce reached her nose, enticing her empty stomach she began to turn.

"Ah!" The sharp call ceased her movements immediately, tensing her muscles. "Janelle, you know if you're going on bathroom break then we should go together."

Camille, her mind rang, and, biting her inner cheek, she about-faced mechanically. Surprisingly, anger boiled at the sight of the smiling brunette, balancing her head on hand, the chip bag in the other. The table hushed when her blue eyes narrowed a minuscule. "Well?" She questioned, "Aren't you going to invite your best friend, sweetie?"

Camille's demanded green eyes were expectant and eerily cold. For a moment, Janelle considered sneering and barking back 'no', but decided against it. There would be no gain or loss, a practical useless battle tactic. Battle tactic, her mind echoed, and then she realized what she had been doing; She was trying to get away from Camille, ignoring her bantering chatter about gossip on whom and what had conspired at whose party which she had not been invited to, speeding up in attempt to get to a class that she honestly couldn't care less about being late to. Those previous tardy markings were wholly of my doing, even if she had been with Camille minutes before.

_Why am I __trying to get away from my best friend?_ Janelle thought.

Camille seemed to have noticed the deterrence in Janelle's step that it had even come to a complete halt, and stared at her calculatingly, clutching her clutch purse firmly. Her arms crossed, and her jaw tightened.

One by one, each table's attention diverted from their own conversations and to me. Janelle's heart pounded hard against her rib cage, seemingly knocking the bones out of place, putting discomfort to all nearby organs. Her throat closed and her eyes began to tear. Don't cry, Janelle pleaded. She couldn't cry when all eyes were on her. Not now, not when she was at the highest she would ever be, the highest she ever imagined herself to be. Her legs shook and buckled, and she could feel her hands grow clammy. The Sprite bottle began to slip from her grip, eventually falling to the ground. She watched the clear fizz spill, liquid spreading on the ground. It was a very small amount, the remainder of what she couldn't drain, but the aluminum still rang in the silence.

When her head jerked back upward, the first thing she saw was piercing black eyes, just beyond Camille's head. **'**_**She'**_ was staring at her, and acknowledgment keyed together in her brain. It resembled a woman, if such a word as resembled could even be used. Rather, she was in the corner of the break room, almost standing there as if it were perfectly normal for her to be there. A long white dress covered her body, stained from pink to red to black from the waist down. The bottom of the dress was black and torn, not meeting the floor but not revealing legs either, just empty air that was a little too thick to really be called air.

Her skin wasn't translucent or even really pale like one would expect. Instead it just held an absence of color, standing out in stark contrast to her sneeringly white and red dress. Long hair that had once been a two toned auburn color was now matted and tangled, stretching down to cover her aqua colored eyes and flow past her shoulders to a tangled clump at the back of her waist. Her large white, feathery wings flapping every-so-often to keep her stable in the air. While the lower half of her face was twist in a macabre smile, tilted up to a point that sane people could never reach. Always smiling. Always.

Janelle watched her without expression. She looked young and yet the hands that reached out toward her were gnarled and twisted out of shape, flashing in images between clenched fists to broken fingers that bent each way. She reached toward Janelle and moved toward her, stopping only when she was close enough for her hand to float near Janelle's face as if she was looking through her soul.

Years ago this had frightened Janelle into screaming nearly every night. However, it was comforting in this situation, wherein everyone was criticizing Janelle's faults as she stood awkwardly in front of Camille's scrutinizing gaze.

Soon enough, the spirit discovered Janelle was staring, and she chuckled lightly, before disappearing into the unknown. The only sound in the room reacted like a single pebble being tossed into a lake, and ripples spread. One person began talking, then two, and soon later twenty people were talking. Before she could reach five seconds, the lunchroom had erupted in its usual madness, eyes leaving me. Her heartbeat returned to normal.

_Nice to see you too, Mom..._ Janelle smiled slightly and resisted the urge to reach out to the spirit. She longed for her warm and loving embrace.

"S-sorry," Janelle mumbled snapping back into reality, squeezing back into her seat. "I, um, was going to throw away my soda bottle but I dropped it so..." A small laugh exited her lips and everyone laughed with her, either forgiving the awkward moment or forgetting it altogether.

Sometime later, Janelle had wondered away from Camille and the others for some alone time. She slipped into the nearest restroom hoping to splash her face with cold water.

Before entering, the first thing that she noticed was the darkness; the restroom looked completely different with the lights off, darkness surrounding her on every side and just screaming about how much it wanted to be in the next horror movie that appeared and disappeared in the movie theaters. It was perfect material and really all this place lacked was a mirror that lead to another dimension.

As she reached for the doorknob to close the door behind her and turn on the lights, a soft noise caught her ears. By no jump of the imagination it actually sounded like someone was crying?

Janelle stepped back out of the bathroom and looked down the hall. She was at the bottom of the stairway in one of the far wings. There was only one other room in this place. Frowning she left the bathroom and stepped over to the other room, slowly opening the door.

She reached over for the light switch and flipped it on, but the light didn't respond.

She opened her mouth to call out, but stopped herself when she realized how absurd the whole idea was. Of course there was no one in the restroom when it was pitch dark. No one would answer because no one should answer. Calling out wouldn't make any sense at all. This was only a restroom, for God's sake! And of course, her mind was just getting the better of her.

So why was the floor wet and soaking the bottom of her shoe and her toes?

Janelle stepped back, into the room, and shook out her foot a bit to be sure, but yes her shoe was now soaked. Frowning and grumbling softly she cursed herself for wearing flip-flops today.

As she looked around again, her nose was assaulted by a thick, iron-like smell, almost causing her to cough. Meanwhile, behind her, she heard the same soft scuffing sound and the sound of someone breathing quickly. Janelle froze holding her breath, listening to what actually sounded like slowly moving sand.

No, her mind insisted quickly, not possible. She was standing in the doorway of a bathroom full of everything you would expect to see in a modern restroom, minus the shower/tube. There was nothing that could make such a sound without someone operating it, at least not that she could see in the shadows.

But then again the floor was wet. And it did sound like there was someone in the restroom.

Janelle considered for a moment, and then finally made up her mind to turn. Clenching her fists a bit, to steady herself, she straightened up and moved to turn and face into the restroom again. However she never made it to a full turn. Instead, at the last moment, something hard and cold smacked into her side painfully, sending her stumbling back into the wall.

Janelle coughed in surprise and landed hard on the floor, feeling the thick liquid splash around her as stars crossed her sight. The scuffing in the room now sounded louder, become what seemed like a muffled growling yell. She could hear someone yelling at her, but she couldn't make out the words and before she could open her mouth and ask again, the same blunt object smacked into her upper chest. This time Janelle cried out and doubled over, clutching her stomach as the voice grew louder.

She couldn't make out any other sounds in the room now, and her mind focused entirely on the muffled yells around her. Whoever was yelling was pissed as all hell, but she still couldn't make out a shape, nor could she understand any of the words. Her chest hurt from the last blow and the smell coming from the liquid on the floor was almost enough to make her throw up. Did it really smell like blood or was that just her panicked mind adding to her current state? She didn't know and honestly she didn't care.

Janelle groaned and tried crawling toward the door, only to feel the same force slam into her side, pain shooting through her body as she was sure she heard something inside her crack. She crumbled to the floor and immediately coughed to keep the liquid from filling her mouth and nose.

It had to be blood. It tasted like blood.

She choked and spit out what managed to get into her mouth, wiping her face on the back of her arm. This time she didn't bother trying to look up. This time she scrambled across the floor, as quickly as she could to the sinks and grabbed the first thing she could reach. She didn't know what the object was, beyond the fact that it was round, smooth and heavy. Turning around quickly she threw it at the relative area where she was sure the thing would be.

The sound of shattering glass filled the room and Janelle covered her ears, screaming with the thing in the room as the sound reverberated through her skull. Then another scream joined in with theirs and she collapsed to her knees.

"Stop it, stop it!" Janelle screamed at the top of her lungs with tears streaming down the sides of her face.

Janelle's head hurt and spun and she closed her eyes out of habit, shirting her feet as if she actually needed to catch her footing. A few minutes later she opened her eyes and she was alone There was no blood, but there was broken glass scattered on the tiled floor from where she threw a soap dispenser. Her mind panicked and she bolted out of the bathroom, not even noticing when she ended up running practically into a wall in her haste, the air around her feeling like jelly for a split second. Still she reached the edge of the hallway, only to bump into something or rather, someone else.

Morshigi, or 'Shig' for shot, a boy who worked sixth period as a student aide, had brought a piece of pink paper. A call slip. Janelle watched at Shig crouched and handed her the paper.

"The office wants you." he said softly, and stuck his hands in his pockets after wards.

_Yuki Janelle to the principal's office-at once!_ it read. Somehow when the "at once" box was checked, the whole slip assumed an air of urgency and malice. "In trouble again?" a voice from behind her asked snidely. Janelle couldn't tell who it was, and she wouldn't turn around to look. She went out the office with Shig.

In trouble again, yes, she thought as she walked down the stairs to the main office. What did they have on her this time? All of those absences? Janelle missed a lot of school, because there were times when she just couldn't stand it. The icy cold classrooms and the long confusing hallways were enough. Whenever it got too bad, she went to visit her mother's grave for a while. Nobody bothered her there.

"I'm sorry you're in trouble," Shig said as they reached the office. "I mean...I'm sorry _if _you're in trouble again..."

She glanced at him sharply. He was a decent-looking guy: shiny hair, soft eyes-a lot like that pop singer she used obsessed over as a tween. Still, she wasn't fooled for a minute. Boys-boys were all the same in her eyes. She knew exactly why most of them were nice to her. She'd inherited her mother's supple figure.

But her eyes were her own, and just now she used them without mercy. She turned a frigid gaze  
on Shig, looking at him in a way she was usually careful to avoid. She looked him straight in  
the face.

He froze.

It was typical of the way people around here reacted when they had to meet Janelle's intense stare. Her mother said that her eyes were beautiful and that she had been marked by the Gods. But other people said other things. Ever since she could remember, Janelle had heard the whispers-that she had strange eyes that saw evil things. Eyes that saw what wasn't meant to be seen. Sometimes, like now, Janelle used them as a weapon. She stared at Shig until the poor guy actually stepped backward. Then she lowered her lashes demurely and walked into the office.

It gave her only a sick, momentary feeling of triumph. Scaring college boys was hardly an  
achievement. But Janelle was too frightened and miserable herself to care. A secretary waved  
her toward the dean's office, and she steeled herself. She opened the door. Ms. Anju, the dean, was there-but she wasn't alone. Aside from her brother, sitting beside the desk was a bold tall man dressed in a casual business suit complete with a spotless red tie.

"Congratulations both of you," the bold man said, coming out of the chair with one quick, graceful movement. Both Jaden and Janelle stood motionless, their heads high. They didn't know what to think. But all at once the two of them had a rush of feeling, like a premonition.

"I'm Onigawara," the man said. "Do the two of you remember me?"

This man...Onigawara, did seem familiar. His sleek scalp was covered by a black fedora hat, and his eyes were a startling crimson color. A top his shoulder was a small furry creature almost feline-like crossed with a kitsune with odd purple fur that seemed to twinkle like the stars of the universe itself.

Memory burst on Jaden. "You used to visit us when Mom was still alive, right?"

Onigawara nodded. "Right," he said with a small smile. "Now, how much do you remember about that?"

Bewildered, the twins looked at Ms. Anju. The dean, a short woman, quite plump and  
very pretty, was sitting with pale her hands folded on the desk. She seemed calm, but her green eyes were sparkling.

_All right, so neither of us are in trouble..._ the twins thought at the same time. But what's going on? The two of them sat uncertainly in the center of the room.

"There's nothing to be about frightened," the dean said. She waved a plump hand with a number of rings and golden bangles on her wrist.

"I don't bite," Onigawara added with a chuckle, sitting down once more, although he kept his eyes directed at the twins the entire time. "Now, what do you remember?"

"When you visited, you gave us exams," Janelle said slowly. "It was very strange to say the least..."

Onigawara was smiling a little. "I see...and do you remember the test where the two of you had to write down the letters you saw during your high school years?"

"Sort of..." The twins answered at the same time. It wasn't easy to remember, because everything that had happened during the testing was vague. It had been last fall, during November they thought. Onigawara had come into study hall and talked to the class. That was clear enough-the twins remembered him asking them to cooperate. Then Onigawara had guided them through some "increment exercises"-after which the two of them had been so relaxed that everything was foggy.

"You gave everybody a pencil and a piece of paper," Janelle said hesitantly to Onigawara. "And then you projected letters on the movie screen. And they kept getting smaller and smaller. I could hardly  
write," she added. "I felt limp."

"Just a little hypnosis to get things going," Onigawara said, crossing his legs. "What else do you remember?"

"We kept writing letter after letter."

"Yes, you did," Onigawara said. A slight grin flashed in his pale face. "You did indeed."

After a moment, Jaden asked, "So we've got good eyesight...? Was that what the test was about?"

"Maybe...but I wouldn't know," Still grinning, Onigawara crossed his arms. "Would the two of you want to know how that test really worked? We kept projecting the letters smaller and smaller-until finally they were out of sight."

Jaden looked at him with his eyes slightly enlarged. "Weren't there?" Surely Onigawara was kidding.

"Not for the last twenty minutes. There were just specks, absolutely featureless. You could have vision like a hawk and still not make anything out of them."

Janelle froze. "But...how? I still saw the letters," she said quietly, but loud enough for everyone to hear.

"I know you did. You both did. However, not with your own eyes."

There was perfect silence in the room.

Janelle's heart was beating hard.

"The two of you had some help from Alu here," Onigawara motioned towards the feline creature on his shoulder, which jumped from there and onto Anju's desk. With its tail wagging back and forth slowly, Alu stared at the twins with his bright golden eyes. Upon closer expectation, the creature had a visible, but very small extra pair of the same golden color.

"Before the test began, I told Alu to distribute his sight jack ability to those able to use it. That's how the two of you were able to see the invisible letters. You were seeing them through Alu's eyes."

The twins were speechless. Apparently, seeing them wasn't enough. All they needed was another power, another curse that was associated with spirits.

"Where I work, we have a word for people like you. We call them Meisters. People who are gifted in seeing a person's soul and have the power to control and destroy corrupt souls as well.

"What do you know about our abilities?" A rush of emotion brought Jaden to his feet. It wasn't  
fair: this man coming in and playing with him and Janelle, testing them, and now talking about their spirit-seeing ability, their curse.

"I'll tell you what I know," Onigawara smirked. His voice was soft, rhythmic, and he was gazing at  
both Jaden and Janelle intently with those crimson eyes. "I know that the two of you first discovered your gifts just before your tenth birthday. A little boy from Kisaragi Elementary had disappeared-"

"Izumi Hideki," Anju put in briskly.

"Izumi Hideki had disappeared and had been missing for about month," Onigawara said, without looking away from the twins. "And the police were going door to door, asking about the child. The two of you were coloring pictures with your so called 'imaginary' playmate whom you both was as clear as day while they talked to your mother at the front door. I'm sure you both heard everything about the missing child. And once your finished with your picture you showed it to your mother. At the time, the two of you didn't understand what is was. Out of the entire picture, the only things colored were the building and a few boxes around it."

Janelle nodded as listened, feeling oddly defeated. The memory sucked at her very being, making her dizzy.

"And the next day, on the news you saw the place where they'd found the boy's body," Onigawara said. "In a warehouse...stuffed within a packing crate."

"Something square," Jaden said quietly.

"The picture model was very much accurate, even though there was no way either could have  
known that your imaginary playmate was Hideki. And when it happened again, and again, when more spirits began communicating, your mother got very frightened."

"And Janelle developed something of an attitude problem," Anju interjected delicately. "I hear there's a broken mirror in the bathroom of the second floor, and Janelle was the last one to come out." She made tsking noises.

Janelle glared, but it was a feeble glare. Onigawara's quiet, sympathetic voice had disarmed her. She sat down beside Jaden again and frowned a little crossing her arms. _"So I've got an attitude problem. So damn wh-"_

"I don't think that's quite right," Onigawara said, his smile was honest. The twins looked shocked. "The two of you have a gift, a very extraordinary gift. Don't you understand that?"

In the twin's experience, their 'extraordinary' ability wasn't something they would see as gift.

"In the entire world, there are only a handful of people who can do what you can do," Onigawara  
continued. "In the entire world, we only found about 3,754 people."

Jaden blinked becoming more curious to what Onigawara had to say. "People who...?"

"3,754 **(4)** young adults. People like the two of you who see spirits. All with different talents, of course; none of you can do the same thing. But that's great; that's just what we were looking for. We'll be able to do a variety of training methods."

"But, I feel as though I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me explain; I'm from Yōkai Institution,"

_Well, that explained his rather strange appearance..._ Janelle snorted.

"-and I work there. It's a very large facility with lots of diversity. It was established by a man who was plagued by spirits during his youth and has dedicated his school and life to training to young Meisters and seeks to help them control their abilities." Onigawara paused as Alu jumped back onto his left shoulder. The twins could feel him working up to something big. "My father put his heart and soul into building this school up from it's starting roots. It was his idea to do screening tests at colleges all over the country, looking for young adults with potential and to bring them to the institution for a few years of training."

A few years? Jaden thought. That wasn't so bad. At least he and Janelle would be around others like themselves. Perhaps it was an opportunity to make new friends?

"We do training on a regular schedule and assign missions to our students based on their ranking. Our staff members are highly experienced and will be able to chart changes in your powers with your biorhythm, with your soulwavelengths-"

Onigawara broke off abruptly. Looking at twins directly. "But first, I'm going to need for the two of you to let down the walls and just listen to me. Can you do that for me, please?" He was looking at Janelle more than anything.

Janelle could feel her hands trembling at her sides. She swallowed, unable to look away from those crimson eyes.

Onigawara stopped speaking, and the only thing that could be heard was the whir of a copier in the outer office and Alu's soft snoring.

"There are some benefits for them too," Ms. Anju said. "I think you should explain."

"Oh, yes of course." Onigawara kept his gaze firmly planted on the female of the twins. "So tell me, Janelle, what happens when a patient tells you that when they caught a cold and when they blow their nose, blood comes out? What does that tell you? What are the symptoms?"

Janelle blinked hearing the off subject question. Just where was this strange man getting at? Had he known she was studying to become a medical practitioner?

"It is a common infection. You only need to see a doctor if the bleeding continues for fifteen minutes. The symptoms?" Janelle looked at her feet and thought for a while. "A nasal spray will help the patient recover."

Onigawara clapped his hand together. "Good, very good. You'll make an excellent Cleric **(5)**." And then he looked at Jaden and smirked. "No doubt that you'll be a skillful Xorcist **(6)** after playing so many sword-based video games."

Hearing this, Jaden laughed scratching his cheek sheepishly. Playing video games had become a bit of an obsession lately. But would you rather conquer an empire or two with undefeated army rather than do boring history or algebra assignments?

"We provides classes that are similar to your areas of study you took here, but with a little twist. Rather than ruin the surprise, I think it would be best if you found out for yourself." He paused for a second to make sure that they were listening. "So, would you two like to learn to control your talents at the institution?"

"I think you two can learn. And if anything, I think you two could learn, together."

The twins looked at him and then each other. The possibility of control had never occurred to them. The spirits came when they wasn't expecting them; communicated with them in the strangest ways. They never knew what had happened until it was over and even then, there were still questions to be answered. However, that was about to change.

Looking back at Onigawara, the siblings smiling lightly.

"I'll go," Jaden was the first to speak. His answer was short, but effective, that grin of his never leaving his face.

"And if he's going, then so will I." Janelle looked at her feet and closed her eyes as she spoke, but at the same time her face mirrored her brother's. "I'm sure Mom would have wanted it this way."

Onigawara returned their smiles with one of his own. "So it's settled. Remember to pack the essentials and anything of sort. It'll be a long train ride to institution."

* * *

**Chapter Terminology -**

**(1)** **Goryō – **the vengeful spirits of the dead.

**(2)** **Shibito – **known as the 'corpse people' or zombies.

**(3) Three-legged crow – **is a creature found in various mythologies and arts of Asia, Asia Minor, and North Africa. It is believed by many cultures to inhabit and represent the sun. The creature has been featured in myths from Egypt, where it appears on wall murals. It has also been found figured on ancient coins from Lycia and Pamphylia. In East Asian mythologies the three-legged crow is most often associated with the sun.

**(4) 3,754 – **this about the average amount of students at a university.

**(5) ****Clerics **– are defensive warriors. They guard and purify the victim's soul from a Goryō attack and help getting rid of a Goryō in a person's body. It is highly recommended that the Cleric has not exhibited any panic attacks or weak constitution since the Goryō can sense when the Cleric is either hesitant or weak-hearted.

**(6) Xorcists** – are the front-runners Meisters. They battle the Goryō with their spirit companions to handicap the corrupted soul and defend the victim from further harm. They are considered the soldiers of light and if a certain Xorcist has enough spiritual energy, he or she may be promoted at the higher level which is Soul Weaver.

* * *

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